I talked to José Padilha for a week by phone. He will begin filming Robocop. He is saying that it is the worst experience. For every 10 ideas he has, 9 are cut. Whatever he wants, he has to fight. “This is hell here,” he told me. “The film will be good, but I never suffered so much and do not want to do it again.” He is bitter, but it’s a fighter.

Obviously that doesn’t sound too encouraging, and the source is pretty reliable as Meirelles is a fellow Brazilian director and was behind 2004’s brilliant City of God. But because the article was translated using Google Translate and no one actually heard the tone in Meirelles’ voice, it’s possible that he didn’t mean to make the situation sound quite so dire.

However, it’s hard to deny that it seems like something is going on with this production. Padilha probably isn't accustomed to the heavy hand of the American studio system and might need some time to get used to it. It looks like we’ll have to wait until the movie’s August 9, 2013 release date to know for sure if everyone can get along.